Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Raises Dividend to $0.32 Per Share

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.315 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29.

Waste Connections has raised its dividend by an average of 11.4% per year over the last three years. Waste Connections has a payout ratio of 23.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Waste Connections to earn $5.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.2%.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN opened at $178.78 on Wednesday. Waste Connections has a 12-month low of $129.31 and a 12-month high of $187.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.83. The company has a market capitalization of $46.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.12, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections, Inc provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals.